Smells Like Lams Spirit
by freerangegranola
Summary: Alex uses his Secret Santa gift from Lafayette, a collection of vanilla scented body soaps and hair products. John notices, and then is very distracted by the different smell his boyfriend now has- to the point John ends up explaining Alex's normal smell, and how much he's pondered the different components to his scent.


**_A/N:_** ** _Hey guys! So this is the first related story to my multi-chaptered Secret Santa fic, A Very Merry Secret Santa! It's not necessary to read it to understand what's happening, but it'll definitely give context! :D I really hope y'all like this, and I plan on adding more to this series of related fics! 3_**

John associated many, _many_ things with his boyfriend. Intelligence, mouthwash, debates, French, cursing, worn-out shirts, baggy hoodies… the list could go on and on. However, one facet of Alex that had never wavered since John met him was Alex's scent. Sure, everyone smelled a little differently, most of the time like their perfume or aftershave. But Alex didn't use either of those.

For as long as John had known his boyfriend, he didn't even use scented soap. All Alex had in his shower was a bar of Irish Spring and a 2-in-1 hair product that had no scent whatsoever to it. What this left, then, was Alex's _own_ smell. A smell that was created from the experiences Alex had in life, a personal aroma that was as unique as his fingerprint.

John always smelled certain things on Alex, certain scents that were ever-present, almost ingrained into his skin. The smell of fresh printer ink, the smell of coffee- _always_ the smell of coffee. Mouthwash mixed into the notes of Alex, along with a faint cinnamon scent that John had never been able to identify the cause of.

One of the most relaxing parts of John's day was laying in bed, curled into his boyfriend, breathing in the various smells that combined meant _Alex_. He cherished the moments where he would drift off to sleep, utterly surrounded by the aroma that was his home, his boyfriend.

"Lexi!" John called, projecting his voice upwards as he was laying on the bed and had no motivation to actually _move_ himself closer to Alex's position.

"...Yeah, honey?" Came the muffled reply of Alex's, the sound obscured by the closed bathroom door. Alex had gone into the bathroom almost half an hour ago- lord only knew _why_ he needed so long in there tonight. John knew for a fact his actual showers took less than ten minutes.

John rolled over in the bed, bunching the numerous quilts around his frame. "Are you coming to bed soon?" It was freezing and as much as he wanted Alex to come to bed for his health, the extra heat would be much appreciated.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll be there in a second." The shouted reply indirectly gave John the _actual_ answer. _Translation: I need at least ten minutes to finish whatever I'm up to currently._ John thought to himself, burrowing deeper under the covers. _I love that man with every fibre of my body but damnit I'm_ _ **COLD**_ _._

By the time Alex emerged from the bathroom, thoroughly warm himself from the scorching hot shower he had taken, the lights were already off in the bedroom. " _Mon cher_?" Alex asked quietly to the room. A grunt sounded from the large mound of blankets on the bed, signalling that his boyfriend was at least still conscious, if not fully awake.

Alex padded across the room to throw his dirty clothes in their shared hamper before walking back to the bed. Prying the covers off of his boyfriend, he forced his body into the tightly-wound cocoon. "Are you cold, dear?" snorted Alex, laughing at the heat-trapping precautions his boyfriend had gone to.

"Mhmm- C'mmere." John said, snuggling into Alex's warm chest, still damp from the shower. Alex curled his arms around John's shoulders, pulling him closer.

The room went quiet, then, the sounds of their breathing the only disruption to the silence. This was another aspect of John's day that he cherished- the ability to remain in each other's company, cherish it, even, with no constant conversation.

John felt Alex beginning to slip away, and soon the chest he was laying on moved as Alex bid him adieu for the evening. "Good night, John. _je t'aime tellement."_ Alex spoke into John's hair, a yawn obscuring the end syllables of the endearment.

" _Te amo."_ Came John's reply, as he felt Alex's chest fall into a pattern of soft breaths, as his exhausted boyfriend fell asleep, long gone.

John was wide awake, however, trying to pinpoint what was different about this sleeping arrangement. He knew _something_ was amiss; something wasn't the same. He just couldn't figure out what it was for the life of him.

He burrowed deeper into Alex, inhaling as he did so and his mind _clicked._ Alex smelled...different. Better, in fact. No- no, not better. Alex always smelled perfect; like _Alex_. But this time, when his boyfriend had crawled under the covers, he didn't carry with him his personal scent John had grown accustomed to. Instead, Alex came into bed smelling of a...bakery? His hair which was in a damp bun atop his head emitted the same scent as his skin was, which smelled distinctly of vanilla.

John inhaled again, letting the sweet smell wash over him. He smiled into Alex's chest. This was certainly _different_ , but he loved it. _It must be from the secret santa exchange_. _Thanks Laf..._ John thought belatedly as he began to drift off, his breathing much deeper than normal to fully experience the sweetness of Alex's updated scent.

When John woke up the next morning, he (unsurprisingly) was awake before Alex. When Alex actually slept, he _slept_. John wouldn't be surprised if he didn't wake up for another hour or two.

John moved from where he woke up back to Alex, the latter's arms re-embracing him as he moved into place.

John was enamored with the new scent that was still stuck on Alex. He thought when he woke up this morning he possibly had imagined the new smell, a result of being overly tired from the week. But, no. When he woke up the vanilla scent still clung to every inch of Alexander's body.

Every time Alex so much as moved his head, the smell wafted toward him, a result of Alex's hair being left down to dry from his shower the night before.

"...John?"

"Mhmm?"

"Are you... _sniffing_ me?"

John turned a bright red, leaning up, off of Alex. They were cuddled on the couch, watching Kitchen Nightmare re-runs in the living room. John had decided they had both earned a "Lazy Day", and had thus forced Alex to spend the day relaxing with him on the couch, only moving for the necessities- answering the door when the food deliveries got to their apartment.

"Uh- yes?" John looked at him, his face still warm with the blush.

Alex looked confused, but not offended or upset in any way, which comforted John slightly. "Not that I mind, but may I ask why?"

"You smell different." John said simply, as if that cast the clarifying light onto the whole ordeal.

"I smell...different? How so?" Alex still looked perplexed, not understanding.

"Usually you smell like, you know, _Alexander_ , and today you smell different. Not better or worse, just different. After you showered last night you smelled like a bakery, and all over you smell like fresh vanilla." John explained further, hoping Alex didn't see that as weird. "It smells really _really_ good."

Alex laughed, pulling John back to his chest. "I'm glad it smells good, _mon chou._ I was trying the new soaps and hair stuff Lafayette gave me for Christmas. I do apologize though if it's... _distracting_ to you." Alex looked down at John, his eyes hooded slightly, the tone of his voice lowering to fully impress the innuendo into his words.

John blushed slightly, but not as much as he blushed when Alex told him he had a "solution to this constant distraction."

John and Alex were laying back in their bed after their... _escapade._ They laid their cuddling, not wanting to move back out to the couch. They had set up John's laptop at the foot of the bed to play netflix, just enjoying each other and the comedic television shows they both loved.

Alex paused the show right as Michael Scott took the Dundies stage, earning a cry of indignation from John, who turned around in their sloppy spooning position to look at his boyfriend critically.

"John?" Alex asked ignoring the look he was being given.

John's eyebrows immediately unfurrowed upon hearing the actual questioning tone in his boyfriend's voice. " _Sí,_ _mi amor_?"

"What _does_ 'Alexander' smell like? You said I didn't smell like my normal scent." Alex looked honestly inquisitive, wanting to know how John defined his scent. "So, what is my normal scent?"

"Lex , it's kind of embarrassing, honestly." John complained, trying to maneuver out of having to share his own perception of Alex's scent, and how much thought he actually applied to determine the different components.

"Please, John?" He turned the big brown eyes down to John, looking him fully in the face, silently pleading.

"Fine- just, don't get creeped out or anything, ok?" John conceded.

"Why would I?"

"So- ok, well first, the most overwhelming smell you _always_ have on you is printer ink. I didn't even know that _had_ a smell until I could smell it constantly when we first started hanging out. The only reason I discovered what it was is when I went with you to the computer lab that one day to print out like ten copies of that huge law essay you wrote, and you stood looming over the printer the whole time and then pressed the copies into your shirt to protect them from the rain when we left. And so, I don't know, you just always smell like the printer ink. It makes sense, though. I feel like if hard work had a smell it would be that. And you're definitely hard work personified." John smiled at him before continuing, taking time to focus in on the small upturn of Alex's lips that was starting to develop.

"After that, you always smell like coffee. Really, I guess that should've been said first, because there's some days you don't end up printing things, even though you always smell like you do, but you drink coffee _every single day._ You always smell like the experience of walking into a family-owned cafe. Whenever I smell coffee I immediately just think of my amazing and sleep deprived boyfriend. One of your other always-present smells is mouthwash. That one I know why, too. You worry that your breath smells, or that you've forgotten to brush your teeth since you're always going nonstop, and so you carry your miniature bottle of mouthwash around and use it constantly because you're paranoid, in the cutest way possible. That plays into how your kisses taste, but that's really a different discussion." John sent Alex a pointed look after he reacted to John's mentioning of Alex's kisses.

"Lastly, this one I don't know where it comes from. It's always been a mystery and I've tried to figure it out forever. Basically, under all of those smells you always have the faintest scent of cinnamon. It's so slight most people wouldn't even notice, and I didn't at first, but once we started getting close, and we started dating, I noticed it. I've been trying to pinpoint the damn smell ever since. So that one is still a mystery. But, in conclusion, you smell like the perfect conglomeration of scents that portray who you are. You smell like hard work, passion, and manic energy, in the best way possible. It's the best smell, _mi amor._ It smells like you."

Alex stared at John as he finished his long-winded explanation, overcome with the emotion of how much his boyfriend cared about him. How often he noticed the little things, how _much_ he noticed.

"See, I told you it was weir-" John was cut off abruptly as the vanilla-scented man launched himself at him, enveloping him in a crushing hug.

" _Je t'aime tellement. Je suis si chanceux de vous avoir, merci.."_ Alex whispered into John's ear, hugging him tighter still.

"English, love. Or Spanish. Just one or the other." John said lightly, rubbing Alex's back as it was the only motion his current position really warranted him to perform.

"I love you so much. I am so lucky to have you, thank you." Alex translated, kissing John soundly.

"And I love you, _mi amor._ I love you." John hugged Alex again, who was obviously moved by the explanation John had given him. In an attempt to lighten the mood, John told Alex "It does seriously smell _delicious_."

"Yeah?"

" _Sí."_ John said, lowering his voice in imitation of Alex's from earlier.

Then, Alex launched himself at John once again, but in a much different way than before.

"'Lex?" John asked again to the room, much in the same fashion as the previous night.

Alex immediately came through the bathroom door, jumping into the bed with his boyfriend. Overcome with the smell of vanilla, John raised an inquisitive brow at his boyfriend.

"It seems to cause quite a… reaction with you. It's an added bonus it feels amazing to shower with." Alex explained with a sly smirk. John shoved him lightly with his shoulder, before Alex grabbed him and pulled him into his body to cuddle.

"Hey, Lex?" John asked into the darkness, sometime later.

"Yeah babe?" Came the sleepy reply.

"Remind me to thank Laf for the gift. From the both of us."

 _ **A/N:**_ _ **Hiya guys! Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate it so much! 3 If you guys have any feedback, comments, or even prompts you'd like to see written inspired by "A Very Merry Secret Santa", ((or other Ham prompts)) please let me know! Thank you again! 3**_


End file.
